Thoughts on recent Ninth Circuit and California appellate cases from Professor Shaun Martin at the University of San Diego School of Law.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Contemporary Svcs. Corp. v. Staff Pro (Cal. Ct. App. - June 27, 2007)

Residents of San Diego (and elsewhere) have broad familiarity with the security people of Elite Show Services. They're the security (and parking) people who wear the red windbreakers with "Elite" on them. The Padres and Chargers use them. Even the University of San Diego uses them. They're everywhere.

Lesser known, at least down here, are the yellow-windbreakered security folks, who also operate in San Diego, Orange County, and Los Angeles. Yellow windbreakers are the signature items of two different security firms: Contemporary Services and Staff Pro.

Why do red windbreakers win out over yellow? Maybe this is why. The two yellow-windbreakered firms have spent massive amounts of time and money litigating against each other. And, as the opinion by Justice Fybel amply reveals (in interesting detail), they have done so in a -- shall we say -- sometimes "aggressive" manner.